MEDWAY - The Massachusetts School Board Authority (MSBA) recently accepted the John D. McGovern Elementary School into its accelerated program.

According to Superintendent Judith Evans, the district applied for the program last year after increasing concerns that the school’s windows aren't sufficiently retaining heat. The nearly 50-year-old windows are single-paned.

The school, built in 1967, houses students in first and second grade. The windows have never been replaced, Evans said.

Evans said the school is one of more than 100 that were proposed for acceptance into the program. That number decreased after the list was narrowed down to schools that met the MSBA’s minimum qualifications for the program.

In addition to new double-paned, energy-efficient windows, screens will also be installed.

Evans said the school’s maintenance crew "does a great job" ensuring that rooms are temperature controlled, but said those efforts are not enough anymore.

The window replacements, she said, have been on the town’s capital improvement list for several years, but with the school’s acceptance into the program, the state and town will split the costs.

Evans said an "energy savings project" a few years ago determined that the cost of replacing the windows was more than the school would get back on energy savings "in the short term."

A similar project at Medway Middle School cost about $3 million, she said, but added that the windows at McGovern are smaller and fewer.

"I’m anticipating (the cost) should be under $1 million," she said.

Evans said the next step is for the district and state to select a designer, who will present the town with its share of the cost.

The funding will then have to be approved at Town Meeting and the work must be completed within 18 months from now.

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 andzcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.